It's a phenomenon that we occasionally come across in life: sometimes you have to take one step back to be able to take two steps forward. Combat Cathedral, the latest album release by Düsseldorf speed thrash metal act ASSASSIN, takes two steps forward. It presents a band that is not only highly motivated, bringing to bear all its tried and tested fortes and pushing the pedal to the metal as ever, but that also has the courage to evolve.

The first song from the album, "Back From The Dead", has been premiered and you can check it out below.

On the song Jürgen "Scholli" Scholz guitarist commented, ""Back From The Dead" is the opener of the new ASSASSIN studio album Combat Cathedral and it hits you right in the face. It shows that ASSASSIN are really back, stronger than ever with our new singer.

The twelve songs were recorded at the Nemesis Studios in Essen with the support of experienced sound engineer Marc Görtz, guitarist and main songwriter with German metal core legend CALIBAN. Scholz: "Marc made sure that the typically earthy and consciously slightly old-school ASSASSIN sound is ever-present on Combat Cathedral, enhancing it with a contemporary phat production. A perfect symbiosis!"

The album's powerful speed thrash metal blends in perfectly with the new sleeve design. The artwork was created by Brazilian graphic designer Marcelo Vasco, whose work features on albums by SLAYER, MACHINE HEAD, SOULFLY and BORKNAGAR, among others. "Our bassist Joachim Kremer is married to a Brazilian, that's how our contact with Vasco came about," the ASSASSIN guitarist explains this minor sensation. "We're naturally very proud and happy, particularly since the artwork, together with the new material, documents the band's development."